Day: July 9, 2026

Briefings

Background Briefing: July 9, 2026

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An Unstable Stalemate in the Persian Gulf is the Likely Outcome of Trump’s Disastrous War

We begin with the stalemate in the Persian Gulf, albeit an unstable one, as the Pentagon war games consider putting boots on the ground on Iranian islands in the Strait of Hormuz which the Iranian regime is determined to hold onto as a tollbooth to collect fees. Dead against Iran’s Red Line is the U.S. determined to open up the Strait as an international waterway which it was before Trump and Netanyahu launched this war. Joining us is Hussein Banai, an Iranian American scholar and Professor of International Studies at Indiana University who teaches Iran’s political development as well as US-Iran relations. He is the author of Hidden Liberalism: Burdened Visions of Progress in Modern Iran and we will discuss his recent article at Foreign Affairs, “When a Cease-Fire Is Really a Stalemate: Equilibrium With Iran Is the Best America Can Do.”

 

With the World’s Richest Oligarchs Pushing AI, Will the People Demand Some Agency Over the Future of Their Communities and Livelihoods?

Then with 71% of Americans opposing AI data centers in their neighborhoods and an internal report at Treasury warning of an AI bubble along with similar warnings from the Bank of England and the head of the IMF, we will speak with Fred Turner, the Harry and Norman Chandler Professor of Communication at Stanford University. He is the author or co-author of five books including Seeing Silicon Valley: Life inside a Fraying America, The Democratic Surround: Multimedia and American Liberalism from World War II to the Psychedelic Sixties and From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network. We assess whether the richest oligarchs on the planet, the tech bros, will get their way owning the White House, or will the people demand some agency over the future of their communities and livelihoods?

 

A View From Canada on the Zombification of America as the USA Destroys Itself

Then finally we speak with Stephen Marche, a novelist and culture writer whose recent books include, The Next Civil War: Dispatches from the American Future, and The Last Election, co-authored with Andrew Yang. The host of the new podcast Gloves Off, and we will discuss his article at The Guardian, “America is destroying itself. It’s no surprise” and another at The New York Times today, “The Zombification of America.”